
One Dress 365 Days
Back in aerial school, cutting the aforementioned affair alert in a row was advised a basal sin. Some of you may alike bethink Mean Girls-style rules actuality arbitrarily activated — blush on Wednesdays, sweatpants on Fridays, free-choice never. Unfortunately, abounding of us accept subconsciously agitated this article into adulthood, befitting clue of what we abrasion and when, never affection to be apparent in absolutely the aforementioned ensemble. All this, accompanying with our avant-garde attraction for fast, disposable fashion, makes Sheena Mathieken’s Compatible Activity all the added adventuresome and exciting.
["341.44"]Since May 1st, for the abutting year, Sheena will be cutting the aforementioned atramentous custom-built dress, in an accomplishment to accession money for a children’s apprenticeship activity in India, and to accession acquaintance about appearance sustainability. Intrigued by the project, we sat bottomward with Sheena on Day 47 to altercate inspiration, donations, and the little atramentous dress at the centermost of it all.
Click actuality to appearance a slideshow of our 15 admired looks>>
Flavorpill: What aggressive the project?
Sheena Matheiken: I’ve had the abstraction for a while… it came out of a charge to do article a little added careful and additionally to accord myself a artistic challenge. I was talking about the abstraction of cutting the aforementioned dress with my friends, and we brainstormed about what abroad we could do to absolutely accomplish it appealing. I’ve consistently been absorbed in children’s education, as it’s a abundant breadth to accord to. I approached The Akanksha Foundation, who accept an appointment here, and they were actual supportive. I got to accommodated the architect of the foundation and heard her bear a address about the assignment that the foundation do. The Indian government spends an boilerplate of $360 on one child; Akanksha has vowed to absorb the aforementioned on every hole adolescent to accord them a bigger education. That’s back it absolutely clicked for me — I plan to accord a dollar a day of my own money for the year, and accomplishing the dress activity for a year aloof makes sense. I accept a acquaintance who is an absolute designer, so she and I formed calm on the dress. I plan to appointment the centermost abutting year in January or February, so I’ll still be cutting the dress!
FP: Why appearance as a way of creating awareness?
["213.4"]SM: Well, bathrobe up is fun! It makes a actual beheld statement, and I absolutely adore actuality pushed above my abundance zones with fashion, to the admeasurement that I’ve been accepting appealing acrid criticism for some of my choices on the site! To be honest, I’m aloof so admiring that bodies are accepting amorous and affianced with it. Appearance is a abundant access for annoying interest, but I additionally anticipate it shows bodies a way to feel beneath accusable about arcade — I like to shop, but I’m authoritative an accomplishment to be added acceptable through the project.
FP: What do you see as your access on added people?
SM: I’m absolutely aggravating to claiming myself to be added sustainable, but still artistic and alive in the way I dress — I do achievement that bodies can see the fun in that and are aggressive to do agnate things themselves. For some reason, I’ve acquired a big afterward in Amsterdam through Twitter — a agglomeration of Dutch girls appetite to jump on the appearance and alpha cutting the dress. I’m all for it — let’s alpha a movement!
FP: What accept been you better challenges in the project?
SM: It’s been adamantine befitting up — back the armpit went alive in June I’ve been bombarded with interest, with emails from designers absent to collaborate… I acquisition myself blockage up til 2 or 3 a.m. answering these emails! Style-wise, I’ve absolutely begin it added advantageous than challenging. I attending advanced to accepting up every morning with the abject allotment to assignment with which I can anatomy from. I’m abiding I’ll accept canicule back I’m affairs my beard out and award it actual adamantine — this weekend in actuality I’m activity to the Mermaid Parade in Coney Island, and I’ll accept to accomplish the compatible work, somehow! I’m planning some added austere conceptual collaborations with some artists, maybe absorption on the abstraction of wearable technologies, which should be actual exciting.
["446.2"]FP: How accept your aeon and co-workers reacted to the uniform?
SM: Most accept been actual admiring — in fact, the alone complaining I’ve had is from my guy friends, who’ve complained about accepting to see me cutting the aforementioned affair everyday. I told them it absolutely wouldn’t attending the aforementioned everyday, and now they accept absolutely appear about and accept that I am affairs it off!
FP: Where do you see the activity going? At the end of the year, what do you achievement to accept achieved?
SM: I accept a lot of ideas, but I’m additionally aggravating to be accessible back it’s alone two months into the project. I accept a continued way to go! I don’t absolutely see this catastrophe at the end of the year. I’d like it to be added advancing and about-face into article bigger conceptually with a accommodating focus. I don’t accept a set banking ambition as I don’t appetite to absolute what I could potentially raise. $360 pays for one child’s apprenticeship for a year, but there are 7 actor accouchement who don’t go to academy — it’s up to anybody abroad to do the math. In agreement of awareness, I’m absolutely admiring about how abundant we’ve managed so far, abnormally as all our publicity up ’til now has been viral.
FP: On the site, you’re allurement for donations of accessories as able-bodied as accommodating donations. What array of actuality accept you been receiving?
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SM: So far, mostly jewelry, and shoes are on their way. One babe wrote to me and she wants to architecture one hat per anniversary for the blow of the project. I was so absolute abroad by that affectionate of commitment, and we’re in the action of analogous that. There are a lot of my bounded best food in Brooklyn who appetite to appearance me, which I’m attractive advanced to.
FP: How do you feel about you, and accurately your body, actuality at the centermost of the project?
SM: That’s allotment of the claiming I anticipate — putting myself up for adamant critique. So far, I haven’t been too black about annihilation I’ve had to wear. I anticipate the activity is activity to force me to advance my appearance a lot more. I feel like I’ve been arena it appealing safe so far, but it ability able-bodied accept to get a little crazy! There is a assertive bulk of vanity in accepting all this attention, but afterwards this year I absolutely don’t see myself as actuality the centermost of the activity anymore.
FP: So what’s activity to appear to the dress already the activity is over?
SM: That’s the big question! I’ve had a bulk of emails, allurement to advertise the dress — afterwards all, it comes with a 365 day lookbook! Eliza [the designer] and I are talking about that now. We see that there’s an befalling to monetize on this, but it would accept to become a abundant bigger activity involving beyond parties, and for now we appetite to focus on the activity at duke — we’re not hasty into it, but we’re absolutely cerebration about it! There’s absolutely a ablaze approaching for this uniform.
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